The Possible Fate Awaiting iROKO Former TV Channels On DStv

Canal+ is a French based pay-tv provider operated by Vivendi that distribute various films, series and TV channels. It recently acquired remaining shares in MultiChoice after serving as its largest investor with the company seeking approval from local legislation. 

They intend to merge operations should this deal move forward but alas the two had been rivals years prior and this comes with a similar lineup of entertainment. In this case, Canal+'s ROK Studios and M-Net's Africa Magic channels as mentioned sometime ago. 

Unless some restructuring plan is underway for both these brands it's likely that the ROK channels and Africa Magic would be subjected to a merger. Sort of as a streamlining attempt as seen with Africa Magic Urban as the latter would fold under Showmax and iROKO TV.

Of course, Canal+ did acquire the TV channels and studios and not the iROKO+ streaming service. If anything, Canal+ could reduce their investment on iROKO TV now that they have Africa Magic and opt to license content just to build the offering on IROKO+. 

The ROK channels could start to burn out once consumers notice there's less new content and another if some of this offering were to just reappear on Africa Magic Showcase or Africa Magic Family for instance. 

ROK's Future In Doubt As Canal+ Seeks To Buy Parent Company Of Africa Magic

During the month, it was reported that Canal+ had increased its offer to takeover DStv by 19% with a sum of R35,9 billion. This comes after their initial offering of R32 billion was rejected with the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) ordering them to propose a new deal.

As some readers are aware, Canal+ owns various properties in parts of Europe and Africa. Some of which clash with MultiChoice's current offering and should Canal+ succeed in their takeover of the pay-tv company various changes could await the content. 

In this instance, Canal+ owns Nigerian film company ROK Studios who manage the ROK channels currently viewed on DStv. The company was founded by Mary Remmy Njoku in 2013 before folding under the Canal+ company by 2019.

For several decades, MultiChoice has operated Africa Magic which serves as a rival offering to ROK Studios with its own lineup of original content. Should the acquisition move forward these two could merge into one entity since they'll be managed by one entity. 

Another would be a potential sale of ROK Studios as a means to keep Africa Magic intact for the foreseeable future. These brands have a lot of history and consumers aren't open to the reality of their assets being merged. 

One thing that comes to mind as a means to keep both brands intact is a restructuring to their demographic. ROK Studios could transition into a youth oriented brand as seen with the likes of 1Magic while Africa Magic caters to millennials and other audiences. 

Reminder: ROK GH Will Close On DStv And GOtv Across Africa By 31 August 2023

ROK is a general entertainment channel operated by Nigerian film company ROK Studios that produce a selection of content such as Bloodline and Festac Town. Prior to the channel's inception, the company ROK Studios had been garnering popularity for its productions.

By 2018, ROK Studios allocated two more channels to the DStv platform, ROK 2 and ROK 3 (now ROK GH). ROK 2 was viewed as another Mzansi Wethu rehashing content to more consumers while as ROK GH (formerly ROK 3) was spun off from the first producing content from Ghana.

After 5 years on air, MultiChoice has decided to end carriage of ROK GH with further content likely to be distributed on ROK and ROK 2. This comes after it was reported that Maisha Magic Movies would be departing South Africa both of which are slated to go dark by the end of August.

MultiChoice has yet to issue out a statement regarding the cancellation of ROK GH. But if we had to guess similar to Maisha Magic Movies (in SA) and Novela Magic, the channel was struggling to garner traction and brands like ROK and Africa Magic probably edged them out.

Another could be that ROK Studios (if not MultiChoice) is cutting back on content spend and possible streamlining. Therefore reducing the attention seen on their linear platforms as seen with various broadcasters in the African market underwent.